


such is the way

by algebraicmutiny



Series: nearly witches [1]
Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Gen, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Witches, Yôkai, and it's really short, the violence is the memory of someone dying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-19 00:25:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11301948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/algebraicmutiny/pseuds/algebraicmutiny
Summary: "A few piano notes, the beginning of a Mozart piece and a crash, the sobbing fading into the surroundings, just like it always does. She doesn't know how much more of this she can take, how many more times she will be able to put up with the end replaying, again and again. The death of a child, You finds, is not something one becomes desensitised to, despite seeing it too many times to count."





	such is the way

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer- i don't claim to know a lot about japanese folklore and spirits, and i tried to do enough research to keep this piece as accurate in the depiction of the spirits as possible. i have taken certain liberties with it, however, so if you would like to know more on the subject, please don't use this fic as reference haha
> 
> if you'd like to skip past the part where someone dies in a 'vision', skip from "Nee-chan?" to "The death of a child".
> 
> it's not particularly good (or long), but i hope you enjoy!

"You can't keep going like this, you know."

You hums and turns away. Her fingers are steeped under her chin, thinking, thinking, thinking.

The sewing machine is tucked away into a corner of her room, now silent and long forgotten. She takes it out, sometimes, but never turns it on, not anymore. There isn't much of a point. Any kind of noise is too much in the silence that was once full of laughter.

Dia sighs. "It's over, Watanabe-san. They're gone."

You decides not to hear her, and closes her eyes. "You know, Dia, I remember when you used to play here," she says lightly. Dia shifts uncomfortably. Wind blows through the tree in the garden, and the branches creak sadly, the kodama spirit, Nishikino, inside it sighing. You waves her hand and the rice-paper door leading outside shuts without a sound. "It's going to rain."

Laughing hollowly, Dia shakes her head. "You and your damn magic." Looking up from her lap, she can see that You's hair is moving as if a breeze is blowing through it. "It was bound to happen someday, Watanabe-san. You knew better than anybody that it was going to end badly."

You does not respond to this, instead turning around and picking up the pot of tea resting on the table. "Tea, Dia?"

The woman purses her lips and narrows her eyes as a cup slides towards her, seemingly of its own volition. "My memory is fading. I don't have much time left."

You's smile tightens, but her hands do not shake as she pours the tea into the china cups Riko had always been so fond of. "I think we--" she pauses, before correcting herself, "I, have some biscuits in the pantry, if that could interest you."

Dia shakes her head. "No, thank you, Watanabe-san." She smiles politely. "I really should be going now." She pushes away the tea cup and stands. You follows and bows slightly, still smiling.

"It was a pleasure seeing you, dear." She nods towards the entrance. "Where do you need to go?"

Dia is already turning away. "I'll walk." As she slides open the door, You calls out after her.

"I could be dropping you off in Antarctica, for all you know, young lady! Respect your elders!" Dia turns back for the last time, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Goodbye, Watanabe-san," she says warmly. "I'll come back soon to visit, I promise."

You nods, and Dia is gone.

She sits back down and stares into her tea, watching the tea leaves swirl at the bottom (She remembers teaching Mari how to read them). Dia isn't coming back ever again, she knows. Nothing she said could have changed that. Any remaining memory of this place, and of the Watanabe You that she knew, was gone from her mind forever.

Such is the way of magic.

The door to the garden creaks open again, and You exhales wearily. "Chika... Don't try anything funny, now. It's going to rain."

Giggling, stumbling footsteps and a scream, followed by silence. You stands up and closes the door.

Phantoms always seem like a good idea, at first, before they become painful and you can't get rid of them. You shuts her eyes and tries to focus on her breathing. Only magic is keeping her heart beating now, cold as it is.

A few piano notes, the beginning of a Mozart piece and a crash, the sobbing fading into the surroundings, just like it always does. She doesn't know how much more of this she can take, how many more times she will be able to put up with the end replaying, again and again.

You tries to focus on the positive side of things. Dia is going to live the rest of her life peacefully and with fulfilment. Yoshiko went on to start her own house, following Hanamaru's accident, undoubtedly much grander and with more flair than You's own.

Witches aren't meant to take people in, You knew this well, even as she broke her own rules time and time again.

"Nee-chan!"

You freezes. It's so _close_.

She shouldn't turn around, she knows, because then she will have to watch as Mari's life is stolen in front of her eyes, again.

She does anyway.

The girl's golden hair shines softly in the light filtering through the rice-paper windows, eyes bright and happy, hand clutched around a vial filled to the brim with the poison she had made unwittingly. This was the end. You's heart aches with a longing to hold her close, but she can't, because as she thinks this, Mari's smile wavers.

"Nee-chan?" And suddenly she is wheezing, coughing up bile that is blacker than black, eyes watering, crying, and You is frozen, unable to help her, or comfort her in her final moments. Mari lets go of the vial and drops to her knees, dress pooling around her. In that moment she looks like a saint, hands clasped together and head tipped backwards, but it's a twisted, disgusting caricature, because a child is dying and You is doing _nothing_.

You closes her eyes, because she knows what happens next, and knows she does not want to see it again.

The death of a child, You finds, is not something one becomes desensitised to, despite seeing it too many times to count. Fire burns behind her eyelids, and when she opens her eyes, Mari is gone. This is the way it always happens.

You thinks it might be a curse. Perhaps she had been too ambitious in her youth, a fight for success, one too many witches lying dead at her feet. If she could, she would go back and change it-- but time travel has consequences worse than tarnished memories and the deaths of those dear to you.

Besides, she muses. She would rather not re-live the more gruesome parts of her life. There are always war scenes that haunt her dreams-- every witch is a soldier on the battlefield underneath their monarch in times of need, something less common now, something younger witches are often blissfully free of.

You feels like she is too old for any more of this.

She stands up and straightens her kimono, purposefully ignoring the letter appearing on the table. She already knows what it says (" _Dear Watanabe-san, I regret to inform_ _you that Kanan Matsura has died in service--"_ ), and it will disappear in a few moments. You is too tired to dispel the phantoms herself, and her power is too steadily waning to conjure the necessary spirits to rid her of the illusions haunting her.

"It's going to rain," You whispers to herself, feeling the degrees of change in the house's spiritual aura.

With the first patters of rain, You hears a soft tap on the door to her garden, and she smiles.

"You may enter," she calls, and the door slides open, revealing a woman with her hand pressed to her face, golden hair tumbling around her shoulders. She brings her hand down and smiles coolly.

"Hello, Watanabe," she says, voice soft and rusty from lack of use. "I see that Nishikino is doing well."

You nods and gestures to the table. "Do you care to sit, Ayase-san?"

Ayase shakes her head. "I cannot stay long. Toujou will be here soon, as will Yazawa." She nods towards the tea (now cold) on the table. "Were you expecting someone?"

You inclines her head slightly. "Not anymore." She looks up and lets her face fall. "There are only two left, Ayase-san, and only one will ever see me again."

Ayase regards her, face emotionless, but You knows her well enough to understand that such is the way of spirits.

"I was a witch, once," Ayase starts, and You tilts her head to the side, but she does not finish. A clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning pierce the calmness, and Ayase flickers out of view.

You sighs. She reckons Toujou will arrive soon, so she picks up the pot and starts making some more tea.

( _She remembers bedtime stories, playful threats of the ameonna snatching them from their beds if they were naughty; "Careful, Ruby, Elicchi's going to get you!" Ruby disappeared after her thirteenth birthday. Maybe she really had been taken by the rain spirit, but You was too afraid to ask. 'Friendship' will not save someone from a grieving ameonna, she knows well enough. Such is the way of spirits._ )

A tap on the doorframe alerts her of the dragon's presence, and she turns around to face her. "Toujou-san! I was just making some more tea, do you still like jasmine? Or would you prefer oji?"

The dragon sniffs the air and steps into the house. "Sorry for the intrusion. Hello Watanabe. Elicchi was here today, wasn't she?" She pauses, and then smiles gently. "Mm, I'm feeling in an oji mood today, I think I need something sweeter." An unspoken 'are you alright?' hangs in the air. You ignores it.

She nods and begins to boil the water. "Yes, Ayase-san was here today. Just before you arrived, actually." 

Toujou hums sadly. "Ah, I see." She sits down at the table, tail curling around her legs as she surveys the room. "Not much has changed, I see?"

It was phrased as a question, but You knows that Toujou _has_ noticed a change. Dia's lingering aura is fast fading from the structure of the house altogether, and soon there will be no trace of her left.

"No, not really," You lies.

Toujou understands.

( _Such is the way of witches, she muses to herself_.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> ehhh if anyone likes it i might do more idk


End file.
